13 Ghosts
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| 13 Ghosts | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | William Castle |
| Produced by | William Castle |
| Written by | Robb White |
| Starring | Charles Herbert Jo Morrow Rosemary DeCamp Martin Milner Donald Woods |
| Music by | Von Dexter |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 1960 |
| Running time | 85 min / 82 min (black and white version) |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
13 Ghosts is a 1960 horror film directed by William Castle and written by Robb White. To the dismay of some of the cast members, Castle gave top billing to 12-year-old Charles Herbert. [1]
Margaret Hamilton (The Wizard of Oz) plays the maid (with many a reference to "witch" by lead Herbert as a running gag), with broom in hand.
It was remade in 2001 under the title of Thir13en Ghosts, directed by Steve Beck.
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[edit] Plot
When occultist uncle Dr. Plato Zorba wills a huge ramshackle house to his nephew Cyrus and his impoverished family, they get the shock of a lifetime. Their new furnished residence comes complete with a spooky housekeeper, Elaine, plus a fortune in buried treasure and 12 horrifying ghosts. As his terrified family--Hilda, Medea and Buck--soon discovers, these haunting ectoplasms include a decapitated man, a fully-grown lion, a wailing lady and a flaming skeleton, who are held captive in the eerie house and must find an unlucky 13th to free them. Dr. Zorba leaves a set of special goggles, the only way of seeing the ghosts. Unfortunately, there is someone in the house who is also looking for the money and is willing to kill for it.
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Charles Herbert | Buck Zorba |
| Jo Morrow | Medea Zorba |
| Rosemary DeCamp | Hilda Zorba |
| Martin Milner | Benjamen Rush |
| Donald Woods | Cyrus Zorba |
| Margaret Hamilton | Elaine Zacharides |
| John van Dreelen | Van Allen |
[edit] Trivia
- As with most Castle productions, there was a gimmick to promote the movie. In this film, the ghosts could only be seen with the special glasses left by Dr. Zorba. In the theatres, the ghosts were depicted using shades of red and blue such that they were difficult to see without the special glasses handed out at the film's showings. Later DVD versions have varied in their preservation of this effect, with the latest DVD release including versions with and without the ghost outlines and a set of the special glasses.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Weaver, Tom. Charles Herbert: So You Wanna Be a Kid Actor. . .?. Classic Images. Retrieved on August 13, 2006.
[edit] External links
- 13 Ghosts at the Internet Movie Database
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